The Closer by Mariano Rivera

Author:Mariano Rivera [Rivera, Mariano]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Tags: Biography & Autobiography / Sports, Biography & Autobiography / Rich & Famous, Sports & Recreation / Baseball / General
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2014-05-05T22:00:00+00:00

The Series opens in Phoenix, in a ballpark with a swimming pool in center field. We don’t go for a dip, and we don’t hit a lick, either. Bernie stays on fire with an RBI double off of Curt Schilling in the top of the first, and it’s a great way to get going, since the consensus is that if Schilling and Randy Johnson can pitch like a latter-day version of Koufax and Drysdale, we are going to be in deep trouble.

After Bernie’s hit, our bats go utterly silent. Brosius doubles in the second and Jorge singles in the fourth, and that is the sum total of the Yankee offense for the night. Schilling goes seven innings and strikes out eight and will win his fourth game against no defeats in the postseason (the Diamondbacks beat the Cardinals and then the Braves to win the National League pennant). Mussina, who has been our best starter for the last month, gets taken deep by Craig Counsell and Luis Gonzalez and we are on our way to a 9–1 spanking.

Now it’s Johnson against Andy in Game 2, and here’s the bad news: Johnson is even more dominant than Schilling was. He gives up no runs and three hits, and goes the distance with eleven strikeouts. Matt Williams socks a three-run homer off Andy and the score is 4–0. It might as well be 40–0 for the way Johnson is pitching.

We fly back to New York, putting our season—and a fourth straight World Series title—in the hands of Roger. Jorge gives us an early lead with a homer off of Brian Anderson, the Diamondbacks lefty starter, in the second. Roger dodges a bases-loaded jam early and escapes again in the sixth when Shane Spencer makes a sprawling catch of a searing Matt Williams liner to save two runs. Brosius hits a single to give us a 2–1 lead in the sixth and Roger finishes strong, with two punch-outs in the seventh in a 1-2-3 inning, and then gives the ball to me.

I haven’t pitched in eight days, but I warm up well and feel strong and sharp. I get Counsell on a bunt try, then strike out Steve Finley and Gonzalez, and I get two more strikeouts in the ninth, before Williams bounces out to end it. It’s a huge win for us, with Schilling set to go again in Game 4.

Schilling is just as good as he was in Game 1, but Duque is right there with him. Tied at one, the game goes into the eighth, Mike Stanton on the mound. Gonzalez singles, and Erubiel Durazo, the DH, pounds a double, and the Diamondbacks go up, 3–1, and call for their closer, a South Korean submarine pitcher, Byung-Hyun Kim. Kim has been untouchable in the playoffs, with his heavy sinker and his nasty delivery. He goes to full counts on Spencer, Brosius, and Sori in the bottom of the eighth and strikes out all three.

Ramiro plows through a clean ninth, and now we’re down to our last three outs.

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